68 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JULY 2018
BREWING UP SUMMER FUN
BY BERNIE KILKELLY
With locally brewed craft beer now
widely available across Long Island,
the region’s beer festival organizers
have begun offering attendees a more
diverse experience beyond just tasting
lots of different suds.
A great example is the evolution of
LI’s premier summer beer festival, the
Long Island Craft Classic, being held
this year on Aug. 11 at Heckscher State
Park in East Islip. In its inaugural year
of 2007, the festival was known as the
North Fork Craft Beer Festival and
held on the grounds of Martha Clara
Vineyards in Jamesport.
“We had no idea at the time that craft
beer on Long Island would take off the
way it has,” says Andy Calimano, owner
of Bay Shore-based festival company
Starfish Junction Productions.
Calimano and his wife, Lynda,
founded Starfish Junction in 2005
and saw an opportunity to produce
professionally run festivals in the
specialty beverage sector.
Starfish Junction staged its
first beer festival in May 2007 at
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The positive response
led to the North Fork Festival
and a fall festival at the Uniondale
arena.
“Many of our festivalgoers
are coming out in groups to
meet up and taste some beers
and listen to music, and then going
out after for a nice dinner,”
he says.
This year’s Craft Classic
will again feature a unique
brewing competition for Long
Island craft breweries, with the
winner selected by festivalgoers.
All the competitors in the
Brew’d Competition must use a
specially preselected ingredient
in their beer.
For more information on the
Long Island Craft Classic, visit
www.licraftclassic.com.
Bernie Kilkelly is the editor and
publisher of LIBeerGuide.com.
PRESS BUZZ: BEER FESTS
CRAFT BEER AT
SUMMER STREET
FESTS
Farmingdale Music on Main
July 12, July 26, Aug. 9 and Aug. 23. Live music
on Main Street sponsored by Lithology
Brewing, Croxley’s, Dark Horse Tavern,
Library Café, That Meetball Place and more.
Patchogue Alive After Five
17th annual evnt on June 28, July 19,
Aug. 2, 16 and 23. Six stages of live music,
food trucks, craft vendors, activities for
children and more. Sponsors include
Blue Point Brewing, BrickHouse Brewery,
Bobbique and others.
Riverhead Alive on 25
July 5, 12 and 26, and Aug. 9. Features live
music on eight stages, food trucks, classic
car show, local wine and craft beer from
local breweries including Moustache
Brewing, Long Ireland, Greenport Harbor
Summer means not just beach and more.
season, but also beer festivals.
/www.licraftclassic.com